PRODUCT INTRODUCTION: THE MEETING PACKAGE

Last time we have discussed about the use of Meeting Packages and how fast it would be for the whole booking process if venues and planners mutually work on a tailored, compact product.

And today, we are thrilled to introduce our product to the world: The Meeting Package.

As the result of 6 months of intense work, the Package Page possesses an elegant yet simple display, with the main aim to user friendliness. Each page consists of a particular meeting package, built for all meeting planners, both professional and non-professional alike.

I. WHAT IS A MEETING PACKAGE?

As mentioned in the previous post, a meeting package initially includes the fundamental necessities of a meeting: a meeting room & meeting equipment.

However, depends on the capability of the venue & type of meetings, meeting packages can comprise extra services such as accommodations, F & B services, or recreational activities. In fact, many luxury locales offer planners to request bespoke meeting packages to showcase its high-quality amenities as well as broaden the choices.

In planners point of view, a meeting package solves the problem of dealing with separate service vendors; hence significantly reduces the booking time. It is no surprise that meeting packages are becoming an uprising trend in the hospitality industry.

According to IACC “Meeting packages trend for 2016” report, “95% of venues have offered non-traditional meeting packages for over 5 years, and 55% reported that meeting planners wanted to tailor a package specifically to meet their needs.” (IACC, 2016).

By creating meetingpackage.com, we aim to create a pioneering online marketplace in booking and browsing for packages, accommodating with user-friendly interface and instant site responsiveness.

To achieve that goal, the Page comes with 5 distinctive features:

4 MEETING TYPES

Based on the distinctive offers for meetings with different length, we put every package into four distinct categories:

• Half-Day Package: 2 to 5-hour meeting with one interval
   — Full Day Package: 6 to 10-hour meeting with several intervals and the possibility of lunch offer.
   — Overnight Package: 6 to 10-hour meeting with several intervals, including lunch, dinner & breakfast, and accommodations
   — Two-day Package: 6 to 10-hour meeting with several intervals, including lunch and dinner, accommodation offered, and meeting room on the following day.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER

For online marketplace, ease of browsing as well as receiving results are critical for user experience.

From the front page, there is a Search bar for you to enter your meeting requirements. After that, the system will direct you to the Result Page, where all packages that match your requirements will appear on the left-hand side of the page. On the right side, there is an interactive Maps that displays the exact location of each package. Our Maps is similar to which have been deployed by some of your favourite online marketplaces such as Airbnb or hotel.com.

To select one package, you only need to hover your mouse to one box and click on it. The system will direct you to the Package Page.

The first thing you’ll see on the Page is a photo slideshow showcasing the premises as well as its meeting rooms and amenities.

First impressions are crucial. In fact, according to this research, “we have 1/10 seconds to form an impression” (Eric Wargo, 2006). Hence, we underline that all images must be in highest-resolution and uploaded by the authentical posters.

Besides, we also encourage property owners to upload the commercial video of the venue for stronger visual appeals. You can use Video URLs from any major video-sharing websites such as YouTube or Vimeo.

COMPREHENSIVE PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Meeting rooms are presented with high-resolution images and essential information about the dimension, possible layout settings, min-max capacity, and equipment that are available.

To avoid the choice-overload paradox, we created an algorithm to allow only meeting rooms that match your requirement will be visible for selection. If you want to check the hidden rooms, click “show the rooms that don’t match my preferences” underneath.

We also encourage the venues to upload the blueprints of the available rooms, which will be useful for meeting planners before the site visit.

RESPONSIVE BOOKING PANEL

The booking panel is on the right side on the package page.

On the panel, you can still modify the information about the number of delegates, select the most suitable room and the layout settings.

When you change the delegate numbers, the availability status of the meeting rooms will change accordingly.

CALCULATED PRICE PER DELEGATE

Our packages price are fixed per delegate. Once you enter the number of attendees, the total expense will be calculated automatically and shown at the bottom of the booking panel. Our price is final with no add-on whatsoever, and that is the pivotal point that differentiates us from others.